How far would you go in order to race motocross? For Bristol, Pennsylvania’s Tony
DiStefano, racing trumped everything
else. Case in point: as a hotshot
15-year-old, he used an older rider’s
AMA license so that he could race
Pro motocross events. In those days,
the AMA didn’t allow riders under 18
to compete professionally. That didn’t
matter to DiStefano. Unfortunately,
it did matter to the AMA. They
suspended him from competition,
although shortly thereafter the AMA
lowered the age restriction to 16.
Tony didn’t need to wait long before
making a statement on a privateer
CZ in 1973.

Professional motocross racers in
those days were far different from
today. Even the best in the sport
drove to the races. Nobody flew
back and forth, and riders stayed out
on the circuit until it came back to
their hometown. They didn’t have
agents, personal handlers, trainers,
coaches or man friends. And it goes
without saying that the new generation of AMA Pros certainly wouldn’t
weld their cracked frames using coat
hangers. Yet, that’s what Tony did,
all because he wanted to race.

While DiStefano’s rookie year of
1973 was impressive, his sophomore season was nothing short of
remarkable. “The Pistol from Bristol”
won two AMA 500 Nationals while
supported by a minimally funded CZ
effort. Tony shocked the establishment. He wasn’t a one-hit wonder;
he was a force to be reckoned with.
Had it not been for a broken thumb
that he suffered in the middle of the
AMA National series at a local night
race, DiStefano might have won
the 1974 AMA 500 National title.
Instead, he finished second overall
(while riding with a cast).

Tony came up short, but all was
not lost. Team Suzuki signed him for
the 1975 season. The ride couldn’t
have gone to a more deserving guy.
He flourished on factory equipment,
winning the 1975 250 National
Championship over Kent Howerton,
Billy Grossi, Jimmy Weinert and
Jimmy Ellis. Tony also won all three
rounds of the Inter-AMA series in
capturing that title and was the top
American in the highly competitive
Trans-AMA series. Unlike most who

FADED GLORYTHE PISTOL FROM BRISTOL

Tony DiStefano won three AMA

250 National Championships in

1975, 1976 and 1977.

reach the summit of professional
motocross, DiStefano took it all in
stride. Success didn’t taint him or
change his friendly personality—
although, it did give him an insatiable appetite to keep on winning. And
winning is exactly what he did.

Tony D’s 1976 AMA 250 National
campaign was more impressive than
the prior year’s. He finished on the
podium in six of seven Nationals
and won in a landslide, amassing
a 55-point lead by the end of the
series. Tony also won the Daytona
Supercross. The following season
DiStefano again defended his 250

National title, holding off Marty
Smith and Jim Pomeroy in the
process. He strung together three
straight National wins to claim the
crown.

DiStefano’s career took a hit whenhe wrenched his knee at the HoustonSupercross in 1978. He took threemonths off, but the injury hamperedhim. Tony wasn’t able to defend hisoutdoor title, and Suzuki droppedhim. Then, at the end of the 1979season, he suffered a workshop acci-dent and had to undergo three eyeoperations. Lesser men would havequit, but not Tony D. He came backtwo years later to race the AMA 500

Nationals with vision in only one eye.

But fate wasn’t through with the
“Pistol from Bristol.” After retiring he
started a successful motocross school,
but crashed at a local New Jersey
track in 1988 and was paralyzed from
the chest down. The most determined
racer to ever grace the sport fought
back one more time. As soon as
Tony was out of rehab, he was back
teaching at his motocross schools
from the seat of a quad. To quote
Tony, “It’s not what you do when
the crowd is cheering; it’s the kind of
man you are when they stop.”